Professor of Law

(434) 592-5300

Education

  • J.D., Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, cum laude
  • B.A., Pre-law Studies, Michigan State University

Areas of Interest/Teaching

Bankruptcy, Business Associations, Contracts, Lawyering Skills, Law Office Management, and Mergers & Acquisitions

Experience

  • Served as president for the Michigan-based commercial litigation law firm of Silverman, Smith & Rice, P.C. in Kalamazoo
  • Admitted to practice before all courts of the State of Michigan, United States District and Bankruptcy Courts for the Western District of Michigan, and the Sixth Circuit United States Court of Appeals
  • Taught as business law adjunct faculty member at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Publication Experience

  • Logic, Fallacy, and the Art of Framing a Legal Issue: The Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy, 62 U. Louisville L. Rev. 133 (2023)
  • Argument’s Design: The Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc Fallacy in Legal Argument and Analysis, 89 UMKC L. Rev 279 (2020).
  • The Force of Logic: Using Formal Logic as a Tool in the Craft of Legal Argument,  National Institute for Trial Advocacy (2017).
  • Leveraging Logical Form in Legal Argument: The Inherent Ambiguity in Logical Disjunction and Its Implication in Legal Argument, 40 Okla. City U. L. Rev. 551 (2015)
  • False Persuasion, Superficial Heuristics, and the Power of Logical Form to Test the Integrity of Legal Argument, 34 Pace L. Rev. 76 (2014)
  • Conventional Logic: Using the Logical Fallacy of Denying the Antecedent as a Litigation Tool, 79 Miss. L. J. 669 (2010)
  • Indispensable Logic: Using the Logical Fallacy of the Undistributed Middle as a Litigation Tool, 43 Akron L. Rev. 79 (2010)
  • Indiscernible Logic: Using the Logical Fallacies of the Illicit Major Term and the Illicit Minor Term as Litigation Tools, 47 Willamette L. Rev. 101 (2010)
  • Conspicuous Logic: Using the Logical Fallacy of Affirming the Consequent as a Litigation Tool, 14 Barry L. Rev. 1 (2010)

Biography

After graduating from law school, Rice began his private practice career in 1995, practicing with the Michigan-based commercial litigation firm of Silverman, Smith & Rice, P.C. Here he actively litigated a wide range of disputes at the trial and appellate levels, including disputes involving contracts, asset valuation, secured transactions, franchisee-franchisor relationships, real property, torts, and business associations.

While attending Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, Rice received the Bureau of National Affairs Law Student Award recognizing him as the top-performing member of the school’s American Bar Association National Trial Competition Team. Additionally, Rice was a member of the Thomas M. Cooley Law Review and served as research assistant to Professor and Associate Dean William P. Weiner.